The easy way to style a coffee table
Designers and home stagers make it look so simple. Here's how they do it.
A coffee table isn't just a place for your guests to put their drinks.
"The coffee table is often the centerpiece of the room," said Dan Mazzarini, a partner at New York-based interior design and styling firm BHDM. It will attract attention whether you like it or not. So don't overlook its decorative potential.
"As walls feel empty without art, coffee tables feel empty without anything on it," said Anna Baraness, founder of Studio AK, an interior design firm in New York. "When you walk into a home with a nicely styled coffee table, it looks complete and really works as part of a bigger picture."
Of course that doesn't mean cluttered is better than bare. Your coffee table shouldn't be a dumping ground for remotes, mail, and anything that doesn't have a home. Interior designers and home stagers manage to strike a balance between decoration and function, styling coffee tables in an almost effortless way. How exactly do they do it? We asked for your advice.
When adding accessories to a coffee table, "it's important to have different heights," said Leia T. Ward, founder of LTW Design, an interior design and staging firm in Ridgefield, in Connecticut. "It catches the eye and creates interest."
To ensure that some variation is present, "we always start with the tallest element" , Ms. Ward said, "which, while not a large sculpture, tends to be a large vase or a medium-sized vase with oversized branches."
Mr. Mazzarini considers how a viewer's eye will move among the different objects. "Some people think of it as a still life, but I think more of typography," he said. "I think things that ripple up and down and the creation of islands of objects where the eye can rest."
Designers and home stagers make it look so simple. Here's how they do it.
A coffee table isn't just a place for your guests to put their drinks.
"The coffee table is often the centerpiece of the room," said Dan Mazzarini, a partner at New York-based interior design and styling firm BHDM. It will attract attention whether you like it or not. So don't overlook its decorative potential.
"As walls feel empty without art, coffee tables feel empty without anything on it," said Anna Baraness, founder of Studio AK, an interior design firm in New York. "When you walk into a home with a nicely styled coffee table, it looks complete and really works as part of a bigger picture."
Of course that doesn't mean cluttered is better than bare. Your coffee table shouldn't be a dumping ground for remotes, mail, and anything that doesn't have a home. Interior designers and home stagers manage to strike a balance between decoration and function, styling coffee tables in an almost effortless way. How exactly do they do it? We asked for your advice.
When adding accessories to a coffee table, "it's important to have different heights," said Leia T. Ward, founder of LTW Design, an interior design and staging firm in Ridgefield, in Connecticut. "It catches the eye and creates interest."
To ensure that some variation is present, "we always start with the tallest element" , Ms. Ward said, "which, while not a large sculpture, tends to be a large vase or a medium-sized vase with oversized branches."
Mr. Mazzarini considers how a viewer's eye will move among the different objects. "Some people think of it as a still life, but I think more of typography," he said. "I think things that ripple up and down and the creation of islands of objects where the eye can rest."
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